Flute
by riotousorder
Summary: In which Toph sets herself a mission and Zuko knows to play flute
**Just an idea that has been playing at my mind for weeks after I binge watched the whole three seasons of Avatar: the Last Airbender. The story takes place before and after 'The Ember Island Players'.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender.**

* * *

Not everyday the Fire Lord's Summer House was open to visitors, who, three out of six (not counting Appa and Momo) were fugitives of Fire Nation, an escapee, a Crown Prince, now Runaway Prince, of the Fire Nation and the last one had a personal vendetta against the Fire Lord as the Avatar. Toph was not going to turn down some good old sightsensing either way.

When Sparky became Fire Lord (when, _not_ if), she knew she would have a full reign over the house if she asked. And as Sparky's trustworthy friend, it fell to her to scout this place for potential prank zone.

Sparky had brief them on the house when they had been up on Appa. He just conveniently forgot to mention how huge the thing was. Toph had been at it for over an hour and she was pretty sure she still had two wings, a courtyard and a garden to explore. This should be called a mansion, not a house. She did not peg for the Fire Lord to be modest.

 _It seemed things have smoothed out between Sugar Queen and Sparky_ , her thought came unbidden to Zuko as she absently kicked a loose piece of rock into the wall. Whatever trip they had, it had helped. A lot. Before, whenever those two conversed, their heartbeats went up two notches or three, Katara with contempt and anger, Zuko with anticipation and the alertness that should not be there when you were among friends. They grated on her nerves. Don't they have any idea how sensitive her Earth sense is? She had to resist the urge to earthbend them onto the ceiling (or was it floor? Airbenders's architecture confused her) dozen times during breakfast and dinner. Now, though, Katara's heart maintained a calm beat, light and airy. Whenever she spoke to Sparky, it was with a calm and even affectionate tone.

So why was she still troubled?

Sparky's heartbeats experienced the same lightness as well, but there was still a weight there. Sadness so profound that Toph would not be surprised to hear the fluid in Sparky's body was actually tears gathered from years after years of bottling them up.

In a way, she could relate to Sparky, she just needed to get him to trust her to open up.

The airy feel, so fresh and pure from the musty suffocating corridor, told her she had reached another room. The room she came in could once have been a grandiose dining room. Rich velvety curtain dotted with moth holes fluttering lightly to the sea breeze. A decrepit table stood in the middle of the room, one leg chipped off with age with six chairs neatly arranged. There was a painting opposite the window and Toph bet her parents' fortune it was Sozin depicted there. Fire Royalty sure loved having their face painted.

Aang's cheery 'Let's practice, sifu Hotman!' with Zuko's long suffering sigh following closely behind echoed from the courtyard. Guess she could have her courtyard tour now instead of bedroom tour. And she needed her sleep too. It was at the first ray of sunlight that they had started packing after all. And she did not feel like crashing on the bed where Crazy Princess had her beauty sleep years ago on the off chance.

Courtyard it was.

* * *

The weather turned for the worse the moment they returned from the theater. No one had spoken anything, weighed down by the reality should they fail when the comet came. A real possibility none wanted to address. In silence they trudged upstairs to Zuko's old bedroom to take cover from the unrelenting rain and wind.

'It's just the start of monsoon season' Zuko had assured them while they were rummaging around the room for blankets, 'The rain will stop soon.'

Silence reigned once more.

The timeworn wooden window held surprisingly firm against the howling wind and torrential rain.

The same could not be said for the wall though. Patches of wetness appeared here and there as the rain splashed unforgiving against the wall.

Zuko claimed the wall beneath the window, avoiding the wet patches. Sukki and Sokka leant against the side of the bed facing Zuko, huddled together under the cover they pulled from the bed, surprisingly undamaged by time. Katara wrapped herself in the sleeping bag, lying face down, breathing too erratic to be asleep. Aang wrapped his hands around raised knees, rocking back and forth, clearly unsettled. Toph, half-sitting and half-lying, inched closer to Zuko to steal some of his warmth.

No one took the bed.

Rain raged on outside. Silence was deafening. No one uttered a sound. Even Momo was disturbingly quite.

Top was feeling restless. She understood them, really, she did. Aang won, world happy. Aang failed, world plunged into despair and possibly there would be no future whatsoever to speak of. There, she completely got the gist of it.

But this was not like them. The silence and despondency. They should be badmouthing Fire Lord and raving how horrid Ember Island Players were. Just… not this, whatever this is.

Every attempt she made to break the stillness was met with disinterested nod. Even Sokka was not cracking jokes!

This was bad.

Huffing, she stood up and made a beeline for the nightstand next to Katara. She had sensed something in the lower drawer when she first entered the room.

It was a hollow crystal cylinder as long as her arm with seven holes carved in. She turned it this way and that, tried sticking her finger in, waved it in the air like a blade, even smelled it (old and dusty). But for the life of her, she could not figure out what the thing was.

She could feel everyone's eyes on her now.

'What did you find, Toph?' Katara half rose from her sleeping bag to get a better look.

And the silence was broken. Thank Oma and Shu for the crystal thingy.

'I don't know', Toph replied as she smacked the stick against the drawer. Lightly, of course. She wanted to know what the thing was before breaking it. The sound rang out clear. Unbrittle. 'Sensed it the moment I stepped in but forgot to check out.'

Aang, having crawled all the way over, peered in, scrutinizing the object, 'It looks like my sky bison whistle.'

'If Appa looks like a stick, then yeah, I can definitely see the resemblance,' Sokka let out a short laugh right before a soft 'smack' came from Suki's direction.

'Well, I bet it can make sound, just like my whistle,' Aang's cheeks heated up and his heart beat faster, 'Look at these holes. Blow in and perhaps we can make hear kind of noise?' He ended the explanation with an uncertain litl.

Toph shrugged and blew into a hole in random. Nothing. She tried for the remaining six but nothing happened as well. Just when she was about to put it back, a hand stilled her movement. Zuko had moved to stand next to her.

Gently, Zuko pulled the cylinder from her hand and stared at it for the longest of time.

'You're doing it wrong', Zuko coughed, covering his slip in attention, 'Don't blow into it with everything you've got.' And with that, he moved back to his place under the window, holding on to the thing like a lifeline.

He put the cylinder end that had a weird-shaped hole near his lips and blew lightly.

A wind-like sound resounded.

A minute hesitation and Zuko started playing in earnest. His confidence grew as he played a tune only he knew, fingers going up and down melodically to the notes he played. He was lost in a memory. Right now it was just him and the melody.

Never let it be said that Toph had no education in music. Even though she was blind and was consequently forbid to learn to play an instrument for her parents feared she might hurt her fingers (they let her study earthbending but not an wooden harmless musical instrument. Go figure), she had attended enough music nights to know whatever instrument Zuko was playing was only in Fire Nation.

A wonder how many emotions one stick of crystal could emit. It was uplifting yet melancholy. Like wind weaving through bamboo forest, whispering stories of the souls of the departed. Ethereal like the last ray of sunlight at sunset, making way for silvery moonlight and scintillating stars.

Outside the rain had slowed to a soft drizzle.

Nobody knew how long they sat there, captivated by the sound and adrift in the sea of memory and regret and love.

The music had stopped for a while.

'It's my mother's flute,' Sparky's voice had a strange thickness in it, like he had been crying, and broke everyone out of their reverie. He cleared his throat and plowed on 'She used to play this when we returned from 'Love amongst the dragon'… and sometimes to lull me to sleep when we were a happy family. It was her favorite flute, hand-crafted jade. She never told me why but I can make a guess.' A shrug 'I thought I lost her. For so many years, I believed in her death. But now that I know she is alive out there, I will find her and bring her home.' Determination colored his voice and Toph could not help but be glad for him.

So she did what she did best. She punched him in the arm. Hard. Sparky hissed in annoyance and glared at her from behind his bang but did not actually let out a word. Good. Sparky is learning.

'After the war is over, we will help find your mom' She promised with a punch in his raised knee this time, 'and we will definitely win this war.'

Her declaration was greeted with agreement all around. The sombre mood was lifted and replaced with determination and confidence. Toph felt eyes on her and lifted her head to grin a toothy smile back in Sparky's direction. Half of the weight was lifted from his heart and she mentally congratulated herself on a job well-done.

* * *

The next morning, Twinkletoes and Sparky rose with sunlight.

* * *

 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoy it.**


End file.
